New Year's Eve

Happy New Year's Eve!

I need to get in the habit of posting on my blog much more frequently than I have been.  Isn't that what it is all about?!

We are experiencing a blast of cold weather in Phoenix which makes me want to cuddle up and just stay indoors.  Because of this, I did finish another painting of Dusty.  This one is titled "Dusty, Again".  It is 11" x 14", oil pastel and collaged papers on canvas.  I used my brand new Sennelier oil pastels that Santa brought me for Christmas.  They go on like butter and just beg to be rubbed into the surface.  They are very nice to work with!  When I started the painting, I was having trouble getting the face to look right.  I stopped and practiced Dusty's face in my sketchbook, using an enlarged photo and graphite paper to transfer the image.  I then came in with the pastels.  I figured out that I had her nose too far to the left and that was throwing the proportions way off.  I got out some turpentine and simply erased her nose and eyes on the painting so that I could start over.  This worked very well and I am pleased with the finished painting.

As for the fact that it is New Year's Eve, I need to make a run to Trader Joe's to get the ingredients for cheese fondue.  Of course I will also pick up some champagne to enjoy with the fondue.  Once groceries are bought, I should have time to work in my studio this afternoon.  I need to do some research in my IB Art sketchbook (for school) plus I might be able to finish my painting of Rainy and Raven.  I also need to get back to my collage book.  There is always something that I want to do in my studio!

The Start of Winter Break

Last weekend my dad made the announcement that he would be retiring on June 1st.  He plans to go into the office once or twice a week, but other than that he and mom hope to do a little traveling, making many weekends 3 or 4 days long.  Mom has been collecting travel articles from the paper.  These articles are about road trips around Arizona and now they plan to take some of these trips.

Of course, I decided they would need a travel journal of sorts.  At Arizona Art Supply, I bought an 11" x 14" sketchbook.  I knew I wanted to include an image of an old car from a magazine on the cover.  I looked through some Newsweek magazines from 1970 and came up with a few options.  I selected the VW Beetle because it was a front on shot and I could include a photo of mom and dad like they were in the car.  Even though they never owned a Beetle, I selected it anyways!  I thought a lot about the title for the book, tossing around several ideas.  "Explore the Road" came to me just yesterday while I was waiting for Rainy's plane at the airport.  It was short and it had a good sound to it!  I used masking tape to block a border around the sketchbook and to outline where the road would be.  I used stick on letters as a reverse stencil, then worked in various shades of yellow, orange, and red oil pastels over the cover of the sketchbook.  I made the values a little lighter towards the bottom that at the top.  Once the pastels were in place I removed the tape and the letters.  I applied a layer of matte medium over the entire front cover to prevent the oil pastels from smudging.  When the medium was dry, I applied another layer, this time securing the VW Beetle in place.  I like the way the complementary colors (blue & orange) help the car show up even better!

I actually started the inside spread before I did the cover.  It seemed like a lot of white, so I used 2 different stamps, a checkered stamp in brown and a leafy pattern in green to break up the whiteness and plainness of the spread.  I collaged in place a variety of small images or stuff that I had on hand like the stamps and the December calendar.  I cut the cacti from an Arizona Highways magazine and the map of Arizona from a map of the states.  I used an old-style letter maker to write Bill and Nancy Haug and their address.  I also added low-relief objects like the St. Christopher's medal and the key.  It was a spread that seemed to come together as I worked on it.

Afternoon Studio Time

I have had a pretty busy Sunday.  I woke up around 4am, but forced myself to stay in bed until 6:00.  I got my birthday thank you notes written before I went to Weight Watchers.  Unfortunately, I gained a pound, but I am not too suprised given that it had been my "birthday week".  I will have to refocuse on making good food choices this week.  I went to Mom & Dad's after Weight Watchers to drop off a couple of the larger Christmas gifts that I had at my house.  While there, dad fixed me eichuka (German pancakes).  It had been quite a while since I had them.  I was careful to only have 2 and I had them with fruit.

Now that the afternoon is here, I decided that I really needed time in my studio.  I added some more paint to Rainy & Raven.  I worked on the girl's clothing and then I worked on Rainy's hair a bit.  Now the paint needs to dry begore I can do anymore.

I have a couple more projects that I want to get started, will blog about them when they happen!

Another Completed Artwork

I created "Buick" from a photograph that I took this summer while Rainy and I were on our road trip.  Our first night was spent at the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona.  Outside of the wigwams, numerous old cars and trucks were parked to provide a retro effect.  The Buick was parked just outside of the wigwam we slept in. 
I actually finished "Buick" last weekend but didn't get around to photographing the painting until just now.  I made the mixed media piece along with my IB Art class.  They had to create an 18" x 24" collage piece, so I did too.  I began by attaching torn white/nuetral magazine pieces with matte medium to a canvas.  For the next step, I worked with oil pastels that were rubbed into the magazine pieces and then finished off or finally blended with Liquin, a painting medium.  The Liquin gave it a slick, polished surface while also serving as a final finish.  To complete the piece, I attached plastic letters that I spray painted grey and added a touch of oil pastel to.  I purchased some expanded metal which Mike cut to size for me.  I glued the metal in place with E6000.  I am very pleased with the final painting!